Z Nation is produced by The Asylum.On June 29, 2014, it was announced that the filming of 13 episodes for the first season of the series was underway.On October 12, 2014, Syfy announced that it had ordered a second season of Z Nation. Schaefer and Engler have described Z Nation as an attempt to "put the fun back into zombies", criticizing shows like The Walking Dead for being too serious.Z Nation's first season had a budget of less than $700,000 per episode.